2026 College Average Kickoff Return Allowed Leaders

Return yards divided by returns. It shows how well his kicks and coverage contain returners.

Lower is better. Only specialists with enough returns are ranked. In 2026, Nico Gramatica (8.9) topped college football kickoff specialists in average kickoff return allowed, ahead of Marcello Diomede (10.2) and Jack Scullion (11.4). 120 kickoff specialists qualify (minimum 5 returns). The median qualified kickoff specialist had 19.9. This season is in progress (through Week 7), so the numbers change each week.

College rule: a kickoff touchback, or a fair catch inside the 25, starts the receiving team at its 25, so a touchback is a good result for the kicking team. Kickoff Points Added accounts for the rule, so it is the fair way to compare kickoff specialists across leagues and seasons.

Data through Week 7 of the 2026 season, updated October 24, 2026.

Rk	Player	Team	Avg ret	Kickoffs	Avg dist	TB%	Returns	Points
1	Nico Gramatica	South Florida	8.9	19	56.9	47%	9	+1.6
2	Marcello Diomede	Ohio State	10.2	48	63.1	79%	5	+1.0
3	Jack Scullion	Rutgers	11.4	33	61.6	70%	5	+3.6
4	Gage Hurych	Oregon	11.5	34	61.4	53%	8	+1.4
5	Zak Zeman	Western Michigan	11.5	22	60.3	45%	6	+3.6
6	Tommy Bauchiero	Rice	12.2	7	57.3	14%	5	+0.4
7	Will Stone	UCF	12.7	33	62.8	79%	7	+0.2
8	Mateen Bhaghani	UCLA	12.8	40	63.3	75%	6	−0.2
9	Grant Meadors	Sacramento State	12.9	15	50.9	7%	8	−2.9
10	Jack Cassidy	West Virginia	13.0	46	62.5	76%	5	+1.4
11	Tarik Ahmetbasic	Memphis	13.8	43	64.1	84%	5	+1.8
12	Nathan Dibert	Eastern Michigan	13.9	37	64.2	76%	8	+5.0
13	Ethan Head	Troy	14.3	31	61.8	35%	13	+5.0
14	Baylen Woodman	James Madison	14.5	49	62.7	61%	11	+1.2
15	Lawson Thorn	South Florida	14.7	17	63.4	41%	6	+3.6
16	Cooper DiLeva	San Diego State	14.8	31	63.2	65%	9	+2.8
17	Zac Yoakam	Houston	15.0	49	63.0	63%	15	+4.9
18	Lance Gossett	Navy	15.2	30	62.0	30%	10	+2.4
19	Riley Sullivan	Baylor	15.4	37	63.8	57%	8	+1.0
20	Davis Little	South Alabama	15.4	12	54.4	0%	7	+0.4
21	Miguel Arenas	Washington State	15.4	21	61.6	33%	7	+1.1
22	Karl Campbell	Western Kentucky	15.7	26	59.4	42%	10	−0.3
23	Carl Hardin	Temple	16.1	36	62.5	56%	11	−2.0
24	Daniel Porto	Coastal Carolina	16.2	27	59.9	26%	17	+1.0
25	Patrick Durkin	Florida	16.3	49	63.7	84%	8	+2.3
26	Eli Fulcher	Maryland	16.3	17	59.6	35%	10	−1.5
27	Ryan Kobzeff	Fresno State	16.3	37	63.1	54%	10	+3.8
28	John Hohl	Nebraska	16.5	45	59.8	42%	13	−0.8
29	Liam Boyd	Michigan State	16.7	31	64.0	74%	7	+3.0
30	Marlon Hauck	Tulsa	16.9	44	61.6	41%	16	+3.0
31	Everett Scott	East Carolina	17.0	10	58.5	20%	6	−0.9
32	Joe McFadden	Nevada	17.1	27	62.9	56%	9	+4.0
33	Reed Harradine	Southern Miss	17.1	27	60.6	26%	15	+0.3
34	Sean Leonard	Kent State	17.2	21	59.0	24%	9	−1.4
35	Elijah Slibeck	Virginia	17.4	43	64.2	72%	11	+4.3
36	Will Hryszko	Ohio	17.4	40	63.8	60%	8	+3.9
37	Lucas Tenbrock	Penn State	17.5	23	62.0	57%	8	−0.9
38	Chase Reeves	Liberty	17.5	10	56.6	20%	6	−0.7
39	Nick Keller	Louisville	17.5	48	64.4	85%	6	+5.3
40	Michael Taylor II	North Texas	17.5	43	61.9	56%	15	−4.3
41	Eli Ozick	Iowa	17.6	37	61.9	49%	10	+0.4
42	Ethan Moczulski	Illinois	17.7	32	63.5	75%	7	+2.2
43	Caleb Carlson	Wake Forest	17.8	48	62.9	69%	11	+0.9
44	Carlos Arreola	UTEP	18.0	22	64.3	73%	6	+1.4
45	Emmet Kenney	Stanford	18.2	34	63.2	56%	14	+2.7
46	Mike Baker	UConn	18.3	42	63.5	71%	7	+0.2
47	Tucker Smack	Delaware	18.4	26	60.6	35%	15	+1.5
48	Sean Olvera-Harle	Hawai'i	18.5	31	60.5	35%	15	+0.4
49	Brody Boehm	Ball State	18.5	28	62.4	50%	11	−1.4
50	Colton Boomer	Boise State	18.7	42	61.1	60%	12	−3.9
51	Seth Turner	Purdue	18.9	43	62.5	51%	15	+4.8
52	Max Kelley	South Carolina	18.9	34	63.2	62%	9	+2.2
53	Gavin Lahm	Wisconsin	19.0	33	63.1	45%	12	+3.6
54	Abram Murray	UL Monroe	19.0	24	63.5	71%	6	+2.6
55	Caden VanHuis	Central Michigan	19.0	10	56.7	30%	5	−2.7
56	Nico Ottomanelli	Sam Houston	19.2	9	63.0	33%	6	−0.7
57	Andy Quinn	Boston College	19.4	20	63.0	45%	8	+2.4
58	Scott Starzyk	LSU	19.5	46	64.8	85%	6	+1.8
59	Joseph Kim	Oklahoma State	19.8	45	63.4	73%	5	−1.4
60	Dominic Bourgeois	Middle Tennessee	19.9	16	60.6	38%	7	+0.1
61	Beckham Sunderland	Minnesota	19.9	36	64.5	78%	8	+3.4
62	Ryon Sayeri	USC	19.9	46	63.3	61%	8	−1.9
63	Daniel Leahy	Maryland	19.9	21	61.4	33%	9	−2.5
64	Ethan Warner	Bowling Green	20.0	11	61.6	27%	7	+0.1
65	Aidan Stire	Akron	20.0	12	63.1	33%	6	+0.4
66	Kanoah Vinesett	NC State	20.1	29	59.6	41%	14	+1.3
67	Dylan Freebury	South Alabama	20.1	18	60.1	17%	8	−2.2
68	Gianni Spetic	Texas	20.2	37	62.7	59%	12	−1.8
69	Carson Smith	Arizona State	20.2	32	63.7	69%	6	+3.3
70	Tyler Black	Liberty	20.3	32	61.3	53%	12	−1.1
71	Kyah Francone	New Mexico State	20.4	22	62.5	27%	16	+2.7
72	Dawson Jones	Army	20.5	39	58.4	26%	24	−9.5
73	Gavin Strange	Duke	20.6	19	62.3	32%	7	+1.7
74	Tripp Woody	Syracuse	20.6	23	61.3	61%	7	−3.5
75	Noah Sur	Northwestern	20.8	38	61.7	42%	18	+0.2
76	Dillon Curtis	Utah	20.8	40	64.1	78%	6	+3.9
77	Michael James	Texas State	20.9	38	63.0	74%	7	+1.0
78	Logan Klotz	Louisiana	20.9	40	60.3	25%	22	−1.1
79	Stephen Rusnak	Cincinnati	20.9	38	61.8	53%	12	−3.8
80	Robert Czeremcha	Florida International	21.0	33	61.3	39%	14	+1.5
81	Mathias Brown	San José State	21.0	33	63.8	58%	11	−0.5
82	Lorcan Quinn	Alabama	21.0	47	64.8	87%	5	+5.1
83	Robert Gunn III	Clemson	21.1	31	64.4	65%	8	+0.6
84	Aeron Burrell	North Carolina	21.2	27	63.7	59%	10	+3.4
85	Collin Rogers	Florida Atlantic	21.3	37	64.3	81%	6	+0.6
86	Palmer Domschke	Western Michigan	21.5	11	54.2	18%	6	−1.0
87	Blake Ford	Georgia Southern	21.6	34	63.8	71%	10	+1.1
88	Samuel Guiden Krebs	Marshall	21.7	24	62.0	46%	12	−7.2
89	Braxton Doak	Central Michigan	21.7	7	59.7	0%	7	−1.1
90	Braydon Doane	UTSA	21.9	44	60.3	45%	13	+0.8
91	Brayden Baker	UNLV	22.1	32	63.0	44%	14	−3.4
92	Drew Klein	North Dakota State	22.2	37	63.4	76%	6	+0.4
93	Stewart McDonald	Missouri State	22.6	31	61.7	19%	17	−9.6
94	Peyton Argent	South Alabama	22.9	15	61.2	20%	8	−0.2
95	Sam Hunsaker	Pittsburgh	23.3	25	63.6	44%	11	−1.2
96	Towns McGough	California	23.5	30	60.3	40%	13	−11.4
97	Jadyn Oh	Oregon State	23.6	55	62.6	64%	16	−6.4
98	Peyton Woodring	Georgia	23.8	49	64.2	73%	6	+2.7
99	Garrison Rippa	Jacksonville State	24.0	38	63.1	63%	12	+0.6
100	Josh Turbyville	Tennessee	24.0	39	64.7	85%	5	+0.4
101	Reice Griffith	Toledo	24.3	44	61.1	45%	19	−5.2
102	Brunno Reus	Missouri	24.8	39	64.8	82%	6	−3.4
103	Micah Drescher	Notre Dame	25.5	39	63.4	64%	13	−2.6
104	Clayton Amaya	Arkansas State	25.8	39	60.4	54%	12	−1.6
105	Balint Vorosmarty	Georgia State	26.1	39	63.2	38%	20	−3.9
106	Robert Hammond III	Kansas State	26.1	29	63.5	66%	8	+2.1
107	Wyatt Joyce	Middle Tennessee	26.1	17	60.8	41%	8	+0.5
108	Derek Morris	Massachusetts	26.3	45	64.4	80%	8	+0.1
109	Kellan McLaughlin	Miami (OH)	26.5	39	63.9	62%	13	−3.2
110	Elliot Arnold	Colorado	27.0	18	64.8	67%	6	+0.1
111	Andrew Nelms	Old Dominion	27.1	27	63.8	74%	7	−1.2
112	Ilya Uvaydov	New Mexico State	27.3	13	57.1	31%	8	−5.9
113	Oisin Flynn	Mississippi State	27.3	29	63.5	45%	8	−0.5
114	Lucas Carneiro	Ole Miss	28.5	25	62.4	60%	8	−6.3
115	Cavan Craig	Colorado State	29.8	35	63.0	43%	16	−7.7
116	Conor McAneney	Florida State	29.9	41	64.8	83%	7	+0.5
117	Jacob Baggett	Michigan	31.3	26	63.6	65%	7	−1.4
118	Michael Smith	Western Kentucky	32.4	7	59.4	29%	5	−6.2
119	Dane Efird	Kansas	35.6	37	62.3	59%	8	−4.4
120	Tate Ryan	Sam Houston	39.0	11	62.5	36%	5	−2.5

All 2026 College kickoff specialist rankings

Average Kickoff Return Allowed in other seasons: 2025 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011

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